This Southeast Asian country is one of the main condom-producing countries, but since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a rout in the industry: the pandemic has had an effect on sex life.
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The Covid-19 pandemic has had economic repercussions on all sectors and all over the world, and in particular in the condom sector in Malaysia. The production of this protective envelope used as a male contraceptive and against sexually transmitted diseases is in sharp decline.
The Karex company in Malaysia is the number 1 in the sector. It produces one in five condoms in the world. For Goh Miah Kiat, the man at the head of the company, this sharp drop in production is surely explained by what many have been silent for two years: the pandemic has had devastating and unprecedented effects on the sexual life of human beings. people on all continents. Admittedly, the anxiety linked to the health and economic crisis has an important role to play in this decline, but Goh Miah Kiat also mentions another reason: “It is the sexual adventures that have suffered the most from the pandemic. Because people could no longer meet spontaneously, especially in countries where bars have closed, human interactions have drastically dropped.”
“We note that in other countries, the lack of a place is also a big concern for couples already established. If you live in promiscuity, for example, eight under a roof where you are locked up for a long time, well you don’t don’t have so much space for privacy…”
Goh Miah Kiat, CEO of Karexat franceinfo
Another cause of this totally unprecedented drop in condom sales is the situation of technical unemployment in which prostitution has often found itself. This decline could also endanger the fight against sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. Before the pandemic, public markets represented 40% of Karex’s sales and this segment of the market was one of the most affected, explains Goh Miah Kiat: “Governments have far less budget for this. It’s very difficult to keep funds to fight these diseases when the pandemic and all that it has generated has attracted a lot of money and attention. “
What is really concerning is what is happening in developing countries, in Africa and South America, where the supply chain has dried up. It will take time to get it moving again. Africa could thus be in shortage of condoms within one or two years and it is undoubtedly one of the places where we need condoms the most.
But the fight against the coronavirus seems for the moment unfortunately to eclipse the other viruses against which humanity is fighting. The World Health Organization (WHO) thus showed in a 2021 study that HIV-positive people are very vulnerable to the coronavirus. Of 15,000 people infected with HIV and hospitalized with Covid-19, almost a quarter have died. Despite this reality, the countries most affected by AIDS often remain the furthest from vaccination campaigns against Covid-19.